A guide through the Nordic everyday lifestyle, feelings, hopes, fears, dreams, weaknesses and ideas, written by a passionate 34-year-old city marketer from Helsinki, Finland.

The perfect black wooden watch: Aarni

Helsinki, 20 degrees

To dwellers in a wood, almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature.

Commercial collaboration: Aarni / Kaupallinen yhteistyö: Aarni

As you know, last year I rewarded myself with the perfect metallic watch. If you missed the blog post about it, you can find it here. The perfect watch can truly be a girl's best friend as it completes any outfit. Recently, however, I stumbled upon something so good that I had to add it to my arm candy essentials - a wooden watch.

Those of you who know Nordic mentality well, know how much we Nordics appreciate nature. Actually, our strong bond with nature is one of the key characteristics of the great North. The scent and presence of wood is one of the most fundamental features in Finnish culture. Traditionally, wood is found in every Finnish home's sauna, but in modern times also the newest architectural additions in Helsinki have been made out of wood (for instance the new public sauna Löyly).

Having said this, you can imagine how excited I was when I learned that there was a Finnish watch & eyewear brand called Aarni that specializes in wooden essentials. I was over the moon when I heard that they wanted to team up with my blog. Aarni was born from the passion to combine natural materials and styles in the manufacturing of watches and sunglasses. From the beginning, the company has focused on quality and timelessness without compromising on the organic design. Aarni wants to offer personal style statement pieces, which makes any user stand out.

According to Finnish etymology, the word "aarni" stands for a treasure keeper and/or spiritual being. Combined with for instance the word forest, "aarnimetsä" means old-growth forest. This kind of primary forest, virgin forest, primeval forest, late seral forest, or ancient woodland is a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological features and might be classified as a climax community. I, therefore, found it only fitting to showcase the watch I chose, XO - Ebony, in a natural setting nearby our home in Helsinki.

The stunning XO - Ebony watch is round, and has a minimalist design that pays respect to classic lines. A slim case combined with gold details makes this model a
real eye-catcher for both men and women. Aarni XO is powered by a Swiss
Ronda movement. Ebony wood is long-lasting and almost black in tone. Since I already have a great metallic watch, this time I was specifically looking for an elegant & timeless black watch. Ebony has been luxuriously used for thousands of years - from pharaohs' coffins to piano keys. I received my watch in a lovely wooden gift box.

if I didn't know it's wooden I would have thought it's something else. something like plastic maybe? anyway, it's a beautiful piece and it looks especially good next to your black slip dress! I myself own like... 4 watches I think but I'm not the biggest "watch person" if you know what I mean. my watches are from Moschino, D&G, Hello Kitty (it's silver metallic, not pink :D) and Casio Edifice (men's watch). oh, plus a random cheap Lidl watch I recently thrifted! all in all I like watches but I always forget to wear them and when I finally discover them the batteries are already empty, haha.